-LRB- CNN -RRB- While Boston and other New England cities have suffered through their snowiest seasons , other parts of the country have some unexpected good news to go along with the record-breaking winter conditions .

All that cold air and a stuck weather pattern are keeping tornadoes to historic lows so far this year .

March is typically a transitional month , where warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cold Arctic air to produce severe thunderstorms and tornadoes .

This year , however , the jet stream pattern responsible for all the cold air and snow in the East remains stuck in more of a winter mode .

`` We 're in a persistent pattern that suppresses severe weather , and the right ingredients -- moisture , instability and lift -- -LRB- have yet to come together -RRB- , '' said Greg Carbin , the Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman , Oklahoma .

The group is responsible for issuing the tornado and severe thunderstorm watches that warn the public of impending severe weather . So far this year it 's been extremely quiet .

By this time in mid-March the center would have issued 52 tornado watches nationwide . This year they have issued a paltry four .

Both January and February were well below normal . March has been even quieter . At a time where the tornado season usually ramps up considerably , there has not been a single report this month of a tornado .

`` We are in uncharted territory with respect to the lack of severe weather '' Carbin said .

In fact if we make it through the entire month of March without any tornado reports it would be a first , according to the center .

There have been around 20 tornadoes reported since January 1 , well below the 10-year average of 130 for the period from the beginning of the year until mid-March .

This year comes on the heels of what was has been a welcome lull of tornadoes across the United States the past several years . In 2014 , we ended the year with a count of 881 , well below the average of 1,253 .

Meteorologists do n't fully understand why we have seen the recent drop in tornadoes , but one possible answer is the development of El Nino , a warming in the equatorial Pacific , which can influence weather patterns globally .

Recent studies point to lower tornado counts in the United States during these events . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently said that a weak El Nino had developed .

So while all agree this is good news so far this year , it is clear that it is no guarantee that the rest of the season will remain this quiet . Weather patterns can change quickly .

In 1984 , for instance , there was a very similar slow start through mid-March and the number of tornadoes ended up well above average by the end of June , according to data from the storm center .

It 's also important to note that even in years where the tornado counts are low , you can still have very violent tornadoes -- 2013 being a perfect example . The year ended being roughly 30 % below normal for the number of tornadoes , yet included some of the strongest tornadoes on record . The twisters in Moore and El Reno , Oklahoma , occurred in May of that year with devastating results .

Tornadoes Fast Facts

@highlight

There have been only four tornado watches in 2015

@highlight

El Nino might be helping keep the numbers down

@highlight

Slow start does n't mean it will be quiet for entire season